


a brave girl and a fearless girl have met

by kanzakimai



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: AU - neither Azura or Kamui were ever kidnapped, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, POV Alternating, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-16 12:16:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13636116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kanzakimai/pseuds/kanzakimai
Summary: The second princess of Hoshido falls ill before the trip to the peace summit in Cheve and as consequence King Sumeragi does not take her or any of his other children with him on the trip that would end up taking his life.





	1. Prologue

Her last memories of her father are hazy- and not from age.

No, not that, because she remembers, with heartbreaking clarity; his smile, his laugh, his beard, how long and soft his hair once was, and his eyes most of all, warm and bright and full of love. She remembers too vividly, like he's not gone at all and at times, when acknowledging the reality is too hard, too cruel, she wishes she didn't remember him at all.

But she, like Ryouma and Hinoka, remembers him with love and wants nothing more than to make him proud in all ways. She wants to show his memory that she has his strength too, the one needed to make tough choices.

Yet the letter in her mother's hands, the wax seal on the envelop with the crest of _that_ kingdom on it, and the words that have thrown a veil of apprehension and anger onto the room's inhabitants- all of it feels like a cruel joke.

It feels like another arrow lodged into her father's body.

So Kamui, second princess of Hoshido, third in line for the throne, the Dragon of Dawn, for a moment sees nothing but red.

 

* * *

 

 

Her last memories of her mother are blurry at best.

Not her mother's songs ( ~~ _their people's songs_~~ ), no, those she remembers and knows better than the back of her hand, or the interior of the room she's spent the last few years living in. Still years have left and taken once loved details away with them. Her mother's smile, her eyes, or the feeling of her embrace- all lost to the passage of time.

She'd give almost anything to have them back.

Everything but this future she's given almost everything up to make happen. This future that her mother helped start with her last breath.

Peace, finally possible, so close she can almost grab it with her hands.

And with it, _unity_ between the lands, the chance to end it all once and for all. The chance to make sure her mother's sacrifice wasn't in vain. To stop _him_ , to avenge her father _~~and their people~~_ , to make her mother proud, and finally meet the last of her lineage's blood.

So Azura, second princess of Nohr, third in line for the throne, the Songstress of Dusk, sits and waits for dawn.

 


	2. Chapter 2

When Kamui leaps to her feet and stomps out of the room no one follows her. Queen Mikoto of Hoshido sighs.

"Ryouma, if you'd be a dear," Mikoto starts, handing the letter and envelop over to her eldest.

"Understood," he says with a nod. "I'll speak with her once she's calmed down."

"Thank you." Though she says it with a smile the worry in Queen Mikoto's eyes remains. The letter in Ryouma's hands is, after all, the first sign that the wheel of fate has started to move once more and like in her visions the tipping point between success and failure rests on her childrens' hands and Nohr's royal family. Whether _he_ is stopped or not, whether the world falls or not, rests on them all and on _their_ daughter most of all.

Takumi gives a slight scoff, crossing over his arms as he scowls at the floor.

"We're not seriously considering this, are we?" he mutters. He won't outright deny mother, no, but he's not going to keep quiet either.

Across him Hinoka nods in agreement, her hands tightly clenched on her lap, all but hidden from view by the sleeves of her _furisode_. She had half a mind to follow after Kamui example too but leaving Sakura alone was out of the question. When the contents of the letter had been read, her youngest sister had frozen, not in anger like Kamui and herself, but in fright. "After everything they've done-"

"That's enough!" snaps out Ryouma, ready to berate them for speaking out of turn but Mikoto quickly raises a hand to stop him. Four of Hoshido's royal children turn to her, curious, expectant, and attentive.

She smiles at her children and wishes Sumeragi was there to infect them with optimism and strength, and Ikona to ease their minds with sound logic and love. Her friends and lovers are gone, however, dead and buried and gone to her.

Just like her first home. Just like her first love.

"I will not force you, any of you, to do anything you're not comfortable with," she reminds them. "But I ask you not as your mother but as your queen to consider this proposition from Nohr for the sake of Hoshido and of your people."

Ryouma nods, even with the pensive frown on his face. Sakura too nods even as she looks back down towards her lap in silence with her hair falling and hiding her face away from Mikoto's eyes. Hinoka and Takumi look chastised and Mikoto wishes she didn't have to ask this of her children, even if it's for the good of the world and not just Hoshido.

"They asked for war reparations, Mother," Hinoka says, appalled. " _War reparations_. Hoshido never declared war!"

"That's not what they asked for, Hinoka-"

"So what if they didn't use those words specifically, Mother!?! That's essentially part of what they're asking for!"

"They asked," Mikoto starts, and it is not Mikoto mother of five wonderful children speaking but Mikoto queen and protector of thousands, "for forgiveness and for a chance to mend our kingdoms broken relationship for the sake of the future of our peoples, to come to fair trade agreements to rebuild both our economies, to sooth the hurt between our people as gently and quickly as possible through a royal union, to begin the healing process from over a decade old war. Hoshido may have never formally declared war against Nohr even after their continuous attacks but our involvement aiding multiple of their enemies cannot be denied either," she reminds her, gentle and stern in equal measures.

Ryouma nods, he himself had trained many forces and fought, in disguise, in places such as Cheve, adding, "in our efforts to force Nohr to focus on other territories instead of our border we created a bigger beast."

After all, there wasn't a kingdom or providence left in the entire continent that hadn't been at war with Nohr in the past decade (or still at war, for that matter).

"But," Takumi says, turning to his brother, "the last time Nohr asked for a peace summit-" he stops abruptly, turning away and grinding his teeth.

Mikoto nods in understanding. "It's fine to have reservations about this. I do not fault you for your suspicions. I also do not have any intention of looking at this with blind trust and acceptance either, but," she says, looking at each of them and holding Takumi's gaze when he looks up at her, "I'm willing to consider Nohr's request at the very least because it comes from a young king who has only had little over a year of ruling under his belt and already has shown a great willingness towards change and diplomacy. This is not King Garon we're dealing with. King Garon is dead."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #I feel like I should mention that even though Kamui&Azura are/will be the key and main focus relationship in this fic, they're not romantic endgame.  
> #Added the _Aged-Up Characters_ tag too because working w/ the canon(ish) ages didn't suit my fancy, so the ages for the royals, from youngest to oldest follow as this: Elise (19), Sakura (20), Takumi and Leo (22), Kamui (23), Azura (24), Hinoka (26), Camilla (29), Ryouma (32), Xander (33)

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading, see you all next update!! 
> 
> #tags will be updated with every update as necessary, but if anyone would like me to tag the pairings already as a heads up instead of waiting it out lemme know!!


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